Wave goodbye to waves in your tank?

[Epic Aquaculture]

@Joe Glass Cages as a tank builder, what are your thoughts on this issue?

 

[Suesea]

Ok, I'll bite what the heck is seam stress? And I hope I never get it.

Water motion placing additional stress on the silicone seams of the tank.

or

Lol...Do only wave makers do this? I have neros on random.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

Lol...Do only wave makers do this? I have neros on random.

What is being discussed is actually surge type of water movement. You can set this up with most controllable powerheads/wavemakers, but running them random will not generate that type of water motion.

This video show the type of motion being discussed.

 

[Lasse]

Poor quality silicon and poor quality glass will cause problem never the less using a wave box or not.

My aquarium - rimless with 12 mm glass all around, 1 mm quality silicon seem and size of 500*500*1200 mm and a standing wave of 5 - 10 mm - the frequency of the wave is just below 1 sec and it is unregular because it is 3 wavemakers involved (two RW-8 and one tunze nano 6040) The pressure change on all seems is around 0.014 PSI a second. I´m total convinced that this seem will last at least 20 years and if it collapse - it is because of age and not because of these waves.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[CoralVue_Marketing]

I remember the first time I saw oscillating waves rock back-and-forth inside an aquarium at a reef show. It really caught me off guard! I stood in an aisle and stared at it from a distance. My brain struggled to make sense of it. I approached cautiously to take a closer look. "This baby could blow at any second," I thought.

I've never run my flow to-and-fro for any extended length of time. But I am still just as enamored by how natural it looks. My last aquarium had rounded corners and a reputation for cracking from intense wave action. So maybe next time.

​

Every aquarium is different and the landscape inside is constantly changing as corals grow. My first tank began with one return pump and a rotating water deflector. I added a powerhead. Then a smaller powerhead on the other side. Later on, I would stick a Maxi-Jet in the back of the display to push water toward the front of the glass. My corals didn't sway, they shimmied.

 

[reefviper101]

Is this a DUD of a topic today? HAHA!

Topic is good i use to use wave makers found to be to much hassle now just a couple powerhead. Thx rev

 

[zenx2]

I use to have this massive wavemaker back in 2005 it mounted in corner tank and had this huge ac motor hung on back glass outside tank and a rubber belt that move a large paddel up and down inside what looked like a corner over flow...lol it was so loud ..I think I did get it from marine depot ...

 

[Trever]

Just fish for me so far in the tank, but I love to see the fish sway back and forth when I put the MP10 on waves modes, so I use that for some small portions of the day.

I have heard that can actually wear the powerhead, I don't know. You do risk it losing position a bit, IME.

Would be good to know definitively if waves actually effect tank seams. It sounds both plausible and like a superstition, but would hate to come down on the wrong side of that one! Flood...

 

[Bradford75]

I think "wave maker" miss the wave length of natural waves, they are far too short. Far better in my opinion is alternating currents of water which can simulate the longer wave length of a real wave out on the ocean reef.

 

[Useful_Idiot]

DIY wavebox for my shallow frag tank. Can't comment about growth but I do get more PE with this

 

[Anchor]

Havent read all the responses but want to note.. Waves and surface agitation are not the same thing..

 

[Joe Glass Cages]

@Joe Glass Cages as a tank builder, what are your thoughts on this issue?

Hi @SawCJack00. thanks for asking.

hmmmm... so many factors here. How large of waves will be generated. the larger the waves, the lower the water height will need to be to keep the water in the tank.

The strength of the silicone is about 470 psi. Thats a lot and may be more than most would think. Seam and build quality are a must. Should be for all builds though. Must have a leveled stand with the tank supported on the entire bottom with an aquarium grade pad.

I didn't do all the calculus to generate all the forces involved. would have to make some assumptions on water, wave height, tank size and so on. The aquarium pad and tank build quality are a must for this. with out a pad, there is nothing to absorb the continual adjustment in forces.

So with all that, I can't share a definitive conclusion. I can sure our experience. many of our tanks have wave makers in them and we are not hearing of any issues. We have also built many tanks for traveling displays. These tanks have been installed in trailers. Now those tanks have to withstand some unique wave action. No issues with those tanks either and the tanks were build with our standard build process.

Great question. hope that helps.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

Hi @SawCJack00. thanks for asking.

hmmmm... so many factors here. How large of waves will be generated. the larger the waves, the lower the water height will need to be to keep the water in the tank.

The strength of the silicone is about 470 psi. Thats a lot and may be more than most would think. Seam and build quality are a must. Should be for all builds though. Must have a leveled stand with the tank supported on the entire bottom with an aquarium grade pad.

I didn't do all the calculus to generate all the forces involved. would have to make some assumptions on water, wave height, tank size and so on. The aquarium pad and tank build quality are a must for this. with out a pad, there is nothing to absorb the continual adjustment in forces.

So with all that, I can't share a definitive conclusion. I can sure our experience. many of our tanks have wave makers in them and we are not hearing of any issues. We have also built many tanks for traveling displays. These tanks have been installed in trailers. Now those tanks have to withstand some unique wave action. No issues with those tanks either and the tanks were build with our standard build process.

Great question. hope that helps.

Thank you for your input @Joe Glass Cages

 

[Jordan Prather]

My tunze wave box is still my favorite piece of equipment I've bought. Its on my 220 gallon mixed reef along with 2 neptune wavs. With the wavs on you don't see the rolling wave across the surface as much but when you look at the coral you can clearly tell theres a wave box as everything in the tank just has that perfect gentle back and forth flow. Lps and euphilia look amazing with it.

 

[Reef_dachs]

I am a bit new to the hobby. I do not have a wave maker but do have a powerhead for flow. I see a lot of comments about "random flow". I have noticed my inhabitants do not like when I move the powerhead to change the flow a bit. Is this common? My long tentacle anemone seems to be the most upset if I even slightly adjust the powerhead.

 

[mindme]

I am a bit new to the hobby. I do not have a wave maker but do have a powerhead for flow. I see a lot of comments about "random flow". I have noticed my inhabitants do not like when I move the powerhead to change the flow a bit. Is this common? My long tentacle anemone seems to be the most upset if I even slightly adjust the powerhead.

By random I think most people at the same time. Meaning, not just moving a powerhead every now and then. Your anemone probably found a place it liked with the flow and then you move it. Good random flow will not last a long time.

There is also turbulent flow, which causes random flow. That is personally what I do in my RBTA tank. I have 2 powerheads on opposite side of the tank, and they are pointed to each other. I have them slightly off centered on the angle to also create a bit of laminar flow around the tank, but where the 2 powerheads meet each other, the flow is pretty random and turbulent. It's like 1 powerhead wins for a few seconds, then the next powerhead does. My RBTA is right in the middle of the tank right where the 2 meet and it loves all the random/turbulent flow. It also looks cool because the waves move it's tenticles randomly.

You can also alternate pumps. So I could have 1 pump on and the other off. It would create flow in 1 direction, then try to switch the direction. So you'll get a turbulent wave that moves around the tank as the pump tries to change direction.

But even after 10+ years in this hobby, flow is still one of the hardest things for me. Good luck.

 

[Phycodurus]

714albert
06/11/2011, 07:47 AM
My sisters 180gal. acrylic tank seam failed, and lost all water within it. The tank had a Tunze wavebox with a 1 to 1-1/2" wave. The tank was ten plus years old, whether it was the tank age or the damage caused by the constant wave? My sister replaced her acrylic tank with a glass tank and she is using her wavebox with the same wave height.

drat, i thought no one had mentioned acrylic tanks. acrylic tanks use welded seams? a standing wave in a 72” 180G (acrylic) tank would look pretty sweet.